Reversable blade squeegee with winglet tips

ABSTRACT

A squeegee frame that has almost snap replaceable blades so they can be easily flipped upside down to increase the life of the blades by 100%. The blades are adjoined to two flexible winglets that prevent fluid and debris from going around the blade in both the forward and backward movement of the squeegee providing the squeegee blades with more efficient use of a bi-directional squeegee.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a floor and/or windowsqueegee wiper and specifically with a mope/wiper frame with flexiblereplaceable blades with frame having attachable blade winglet tips.

Squeegee apparatuses are a very familiar implement in the art or movingliquids and/or debris. Most apparatuses include a handle that is securedto support frame that is fastened to a rubber and or elastomer flexiblesqueegee blade. There are many devices that been produced to moveliquids for floors or flat surfaces. In order to move floor liquid andor debris the operator uses a handle that is approximately 60 inchesfrom the attach point of the frame that supports the squeegee blade. Theoperator supports the handle to move the blade along a floor, patio,driveway, walkway, or any other flat surface to push liquid and/ordebris to a location at the operators choosing.

A standard floor squeegee has an elastomer blade and/or blades that aresandwiched between an angled 90 degree extruded metal and or hardplastic frame and its accompanying long flat rectangular shaped metal orhard plastic bar that corresponds to the same length as the elastomersqueegee blade. Both the 90 degree extrusion and long rectangular barhave multiple holes along both lengths. The holes are used to adjoin theelastomer squeegee blade that is sandwiched between the 90 degreeextrusion and long rectangular bar by way of fasteners such as butlimited to rivets, screws, bolts, wing nuts, nuts, and or push inreleasable fasteners. Current squeegees require numerous wing nuts ormechanical type fasteners to remove or replace the squeegee blade,making it more laborious while adding to the cleaning work. What isneeded is an easier way to change out squeegee blades.

Currently all curved squeegee blade outboard tips are curved in onedirection, usually curved forward to allow the operator to push theliquid or debris in the direction of sweep motion. The curved outboardblades allow the debris or liquid material to be contained and not flowaround both ends of the squeegee blade. However, when pulling back theopposite affect occurs and that is the liquid and or debris will noweasily flow around the squeegee blade thus rendering the elastomersqueegee blade inefficient. Therefore, all current curved squeegees arecurved only on one side and thus when pulling back they are ineffectiveand loose the water being captured. What is needed are ways to collectand push liquid and or debris in forward as well as backward directionswithout losing collected water or debris.

SUMMARY

The present invention discloses a squeegee mop or wiper sweep withreversible wiper blade having a frame from more or less an extrudedcross section; a flexible attachment coupling the frame to a mop orwiper handle and at least one squeegee blade with two sides firmlycoupled in parallel to the frame extruded dimension with at least twopin or rivet type detachable fasteners. A first blade side snugglyadjacent to the frame and a second blade side snuggly adjacent to a flatplate along the frame extruded dimension with the two detachablefasteners perpendicular to and sandwiching the blade between the frameand flat plate more or less mid-way on the blade height dimension. Sothat one blade can be easily edge reversed to use the unworn blade edgefor doubling the blade life and the winglets coupled to the frame endsprovide for scooping dirty excess fluid is collected into the sweptsqueegee area for disposal.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Specific embodiments of the invention will be described in detail withreference to the following figures.

FIG. 1. Is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a front and side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 3. Is a perspective view of a two squeegee blade aspect of andembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4. Is a front and back perspective views of the invention winglettips.

FIG. 5 is a front and side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention which illustrates a squeegee blade that is attached to anangled bracket cross section frame.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention,numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a morethorough understanding of the invention. However, it will be apparent toone of ordinary skill in the art that the invention may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known featureshave not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarily complicatingthe description.

Objects and Advantages

An object of the invention is to create flexible hydrodynamic wingletsattachable to squeegees.

Another object of the invention is create methods of attaching orinstalling unitary winglets to a sweeper frame. (be it unitary moldedframe, adhesives, snaps, detents, etc)

Yet another objective is to create a winglet bumper to reduce damagewhen colliding with edges and corners.

Another objective is to create a winglet from any type of resilientflexible and non flexible elastomeric materials such as rubber, plastic,mylar, PVC, ABS, Urethane, Polymers, etc to factor in the most economicmaterial.

Yet another object of the invention is to use retainer back plate stripsupport pins act like dowl pins, which can be in the approximate lengthof 1/16″ to 2″ extending even out of the encapsulating back plate,through the blades and to holes in the frame if need be, such that theprotruding pins can be a blind fastener, slightly bucked rivet or anyother means to have protruding pins that do not require a fasteningdevice like a nut or screw to support the back plate, sandwiching thesqueegee foam/rubber blades to the between the frame and flat plate orsupport strip.

Another object is having both unidirectional winglet, just one wing, andnot two, thus capable of moving collected water in only one directioninstead of two.

Yet another object of the invention is to create a winglet blade whichis used to either make contact with the floor, via soft flexible bladethat can be overmolded into the winglet, or just above the floor forliquid movement and control, taking into account any chatter that mayoccur.

Another object is a variable angle of unitary forward and/or backsqueegee winglet wings, from 5 degrees to 90 degrees in eitherdirection.

DETAIL DESCRIPTION WITH FIGURES

In embodiments below, the handle attachment to a sweep frame is made ofany flexible substance with memory such as rubber, urethane, nylon,plastic, titanium, polyvinyl. It is also within the spirit and scope ofthe present invention for the attachment to be made of flexible butstrong plastic such as mylar, polypropolan or any other flexiblematerial exhibiting the required properties.

FIG. 1. Is an isometric view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention. A preferred embodiment is a floor and/or window squeegeewiper blade sweep that is made from flexible material types such asrubber, elastomer, foam, or any other type of flexible materials. Blades115 can be easily removed and replaced and are coupled with attachedflexible winglet tips 107 117 that enhance liquid collection both in theforward push and backward pull movement of the squeegee blade 115. Thetwo way curved tip for cleaning or a sweeping apparatus, sweep, and inparticular to floor and or window squeegees where material is beingremoved by an apparatus or floor or window wash is being applied. Theframe 109 113 are coupled to a staff or handle 101 via flexible coupler103 and fastener 105. The handle can be a sweep, a mop or wiper handle.

In an embodiment the frame 109 113 made from an angle formed supportframe which can be made from metal and/or formed plastic and anelongated rectangular support side with limited bend. The L frame 109113 cross section can also be made from an extruded polymer, carbonfiber and can have other cross-section shapes such as U shaped, T shapedor slotted bar or any other type of extruded bar that has limited bendand/or flex. In order to couple flexible wiper blades this extrudedcross-section shape requires a minimum of two mechanical fasteners 111of a particular type such as but not limited to screws, nuts, wing nutsor easily releasable pip pins or any other type of mechanical fastener.The frame requires a type of mechanical manipulation to remove a bladefrom the coupling fastening device as the frame firmly supports thefastener coupled blades.

Wedge curved squeegee winglet tips 107 117 coupled to the frame allow anoperator wiping the floor inclusively to trap the water while inhibitingthe dirty liquid from going outside the blade sweep under motion. Thesweep squeegee blade 115 allows the operator to trap the water whenpulling thus in another embodiment a curved squeegee allows both pushingand pulling without the excess liquid leaving the blade sweep. Also, thewinglet tips 107 117 allow the ends of the squeegee blade to be used asa bumper, a departure from sharp ends of squeegee blade frames which candamage corners and walls.

FIG. 2 is a front and side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention which illustrates a squeegee blade 205 that is attached to anangled bracket cross section frame 201 and or rigid channel for couplingthe squeegee blade 205 for snug contact between the angle bracket frame201 and a flexible blade 205. The blind pin position 215 at theunderside of the angle bracket cross section of the a frame L shapedextruded channel, penetrate the blade 205 placed flat adjacent to theframe underside such that the blade length to the retaining hole orfastener 215 centerline vertical dimension are positioned at mid bladeheight 205 underneath side of the frame angle bracket 201 and sandwichedbetween a flat plate or strip 217 adjacent to the opposite blade sidefor maintaining a uniform pressure by the fasteners 203 on the bladealong the length of the frame.

In another embodiment the frame cross section 201 can be U shapedchannel that supports the squeegee blade at blade mid-height forallowing the squeegee blade to be flipped edge over edge as the edgebecomes worn such that both edges of the squeegee blade can be usedbefore discarding a blade, thereby doubling the life of a squeegeeblade.

In an embodiment of the invention only two mechanical type of fasteners203 are required because all the other holding type fasteners areaircraft type blind rivets (Cherry, Huck, etc) that are attached to onlyone or both and/or combination of the two support frame surfaces createa protruding pin. Protruding pins located 203 215 in either the angledsupport frame 201 or flat plate 217 and/or elongated support framesurfaces support the sandwiched elastomer squeegee blade 205 by way ofonly two or more mechanical fasteners 203 along the frame 201 and/orflat retaining plate 217. The protruding pin 203 can be made fromvarious types of methods from partially bucked rivets via an assemblyrobotic rivet gun to blind rivets by manufactures like Cherry and Huckrivet guns and/or fastener, press fit rivet or interference Hilok rivet.The protruding blind rivet is retained in the rectangular support barand/or angled support frame or any combination of the two, theprotruding pin extends more than 0.05 to penetrate and retain theelastomer squeegee blade and thus screws, nuts or other types ofmechanical fasteners are not needed. The protruding pin 203 can extendbeyond the squeegee blade and into the opposite corresponding supportframe in a U shape cross section fram by way of a support hole and/orjust buck up against the opposite support frame and be used as a guideas to how much the two frames should be apart to ensure the squeegeeblade is not deformed that could cause damage to the elastomer squeegeeblade. It should be noted that blind rivets or fasteners are only usedto hold two or more metals together but in this case additional costsaving when they are installed without attaching two or more metals andinstead installed in only one surface thus creating a protruding pinthat is permanently attached to the single support frame structure thatcan support the squeegee blade to the support frame a without nuts orother types of mechanical fastening apparatuses. The blind rivets caneither be located on one and/or any combination of either support framesthat sandwich and support the floor squeegee blade but at the bladeheight center. Thus the blind fasteners which do not require threads inthe support frame for the commonly used nuts or wing nuts.

In an embodiment of the invention elastomer squeegee blade couplingsupport is made by way of two or more holes to the frame and/or flatretainer plate with blind fasteners that are installed only on one ofeither the frame and/or combination of both support frame along channelor combination of both the support frame and flat retainer plate. In anaspect of the invention the two fasteners are installed on just one ofthe frame or flat retainer plate thus extend out and creates aprotruding pin that can be used to support the flexible squeegee bladeinstead of screws, bolts, saving time in replacing the flexible squeegeeblade.

An embodiment of the invention only requires two threaded type ofmechanical fasteners and or other mechanical type quick release typefasteners including and not limited to pip pins or other types offasteners that require mechanical manual manipulation to remove theblades. Thus removing and flipping the blades over to apply the unusedside would require roughly ¼ the time that is needed on typical 24″floor squeegees with fasteners. Moreover an operator can now easilyremove and flip over the squeegee blade to double the life of thesqueegee blade.

FIG. 3. Is a perspective view of a two squeegee blade aspect of andembodiment of the invention.

A blind fastener protruding pin 311 is used to support the flexiblesqueegee blade 307 along with some screws and nuts that retain theangled frame 305 307 and elongated rectangular retainer frame thatsandwich the squeegee blades. This sandwich configuration with blindfastener protruding pin fasteners 311 provides sufficient support usingless than half the amount of screws and/or bolts and other type ofmechanical fasteners that require mechanical means of removing theblade(s) Also, the upper underneath of the angled formed support frame305 is used as a backstop for the squeegee blade 307 top edge as toallow for the bottom of the squeegee blade edges, that make contact withthe floor, to be uniform and flat and not wavy. Without the angledunderneath of the angled frame the squeegee blade bottom edge would benot uniformly engage the cleaned surface due to the squeegee bladeattach bolt under or over tightening. In appropriate fastener tighteningwithout a retaining flat for frame length uniformity pressure couldcrush the squeegee blade foam local to the fasteners and thus an aspectof the invention using the upper underneath frame as a back stop helpssupport blade strength and durability. The distance from the bottom sideof the angled leg to the retaining holes that support the elastomersqueegee blades is ½ the distance of the holes that are located in theelastomer squeegee blade such that the blades can be easily flipped edgeover so that top portion of the blade that is located underneath theangled leg can be flipped over and used as a squeegee blade thusincreasing the life of the elastomer squeegee blades by 100%. Theretaining holes located in the squeegee blade and/or blades aredistanced from the upper lip surface, that makes contact with the floorand/or window that is used to squeegee and/or move liquids and/ordebris, to the opposite bottom lip that also makes contact with thefloor and/or window and is used to squeegee and/or move liquids and/ordebris, so that the elastomer blade extends past the bottom of theangled perpendicular leg support frame and elongated rectangular supportframe between approximately 0.10″ to 9″ and thus the elastomer squeegeeblade can be easily flipped over so the elastomer squeegee blade can berotated end over end so the unused side of the squeegee blade can beused and still be supported by the retaining holes that are located inthe angled blade parallel frame 309 cross section along the frame. Othermethods for retaining the blade can be inserted into a channel framewith a formed enlarged bead thus to retain the blade in windowsqueegees. Thus two blades can be used twice as long by just simply edgeflipping over the blade so the unused edge can be exposed to wipe thefloors or windows. This embodiment allows the operator to save money byhaving twice the length of the blade and also be able to wipe the floorsmore efficient by capturing the water with winglet tips when eitherpushing and/or pulling the floor squeegee cleaning apparatus while atthe same time protecting obstacles when hitting the edges of the bladeframe. The frame 305 is flexible coupled 303 to the frame handle 301.

FIG. 4. Is a front and back perspective views of the invention winglettip embodiments. Winglet tips 401 are coupled to a squeegee frame 403405 at the frame ends. The winglets can be rigidly affixed orattachable-detachable. The winglets tips can be unidirectional 401 orbidirectional FIG. 1 117 as well slidably attached or pivotally coupledto allow angular adjustment from between 5 to 90 degrees from the frame405 longitudinal centerline to the sweep direction. The winglet tipshave attachable-detachable angle adjustable winglets coupled to theframe ends and can be plain wedge 401 shaped or scooper type 407 forsteep angle of attack in the sweep direction.

FIG. 5 is a front and side view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention which illustrates a squeegee blade 505 that is attached to anangled bracket cross section frame 501 and extruded dimension forcoupling a squeegee blade 505 with snug contact between the anglebracket frame 501 and a flexible blade 505. In an embodiment of theinvention a frame 501 from more or less an extruded shaped cross sectionhaving sides 502 and mid frame blade inserts 504. A flexible attachment509 coupling the frame 501 to a sweep handle 101 is coupled to at leastone squeegee blade 505 with two sides firmly held in parallel to theframe 501 extruded dimension with inserts and at least two pin 515 orrivet type connectors. A first blade side is snuggly adjacent to theframe 501 and a second blade side snuggly adjacent to a flat plate 517or strip along the frame cross section extruded dimension, with the twodetachable pin 515 holders perpendicular to and sandwiching the bladebetween the frame 501 back and plate 515 or strip more or less mid-wayon the blade height dimension. A blind pin position 503 at the outsideof a frame angle bracket cross section of a more-or-less frame L shapedextruded longitudinally with added side 502 and mid frame 504 bladeinserts is shown. The pin connectors 515 can come from a variety of pinsfrom a set of pins comprising quick release pins including Ring Detent,Shoulder Detent, Cotterless Clevis, Threaded Detent, Ring, Clevis,Adjustable Clevis, Hitch), Positive Locking, Pop, Spring Loaded, Swelllatch and others. The pin connectors provide the quick release mechanismfor changing out or flipping the blade(s) where the traditional methodswould require work and time to unfasten and flip the blade in an aspectof the invention provides a ready clean sharp blade edge or thecapability to easily maintain such an edge.

Therefore, while the invention has been described with respect to alimited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefitof this invention, will appreciate that other embodiments can be devisedwhich do not depart from the scope of the invention as disclosed herein.Other aspects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdescription and the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A squeegee mop or wiper sweep with reversiblewiper blade comprising: a frame from more or less an extruded shapedcross section having sides and mid frame blade inserts; a flexibleattachment coupling the frame to a sweep handle; at least one squeegeeblade with two sides firmly held in parallel to the frame extrudeddimension with inserts and at least two pin or rivet type connectors; afirst blade side snuggly adjacent to the frame and a second blade sidesnuggly adjacent to a flat plate or strip along the frame cross sectionextruded dimension, and the two detachable pin holders perpendicular toand sandwiching the blade between the frame back and plate or strip moreor less mid-way on the blade height dimension whereby a blade can beeasily edge reversed to use the unworn blade edge for doubling the bladelife without extra work in doing the flip.
 2. The squeegee mop or wipersweep of claim 1 further comprising affixed winglets affixed to theframe ends.
 3. The squeegee mop or wiper of claim 2 further comprisingattachable angle adjustable winglets coupled to the frame ends.
 4. Thesqueegee mop or wiper of claim 1 further wherein the flexible squeegeeblade material is essentially made from a set of flexible orsemi-flexible material.
 5. The squeegee mop or wiper of claim 1 furthercomprising winglets which are uni-directional or bi-directional atadjustable frame centerline to sweep direction angles.
 6. The squeegeemop or wiper of claim 1 further comprising fasteners from a group ofblind fasteners consisting essentially of blind pin, rivets, quickrelease pins, Ring Detent, Shoulder Detent, Cotterless Clevis, ThreadedDetent, Ring, Clevis, Adjustable Clevis, Hitch), Positive Locking, Pop,Spring Loaded, and Swell Latch.
 7. The squeegee mop or wiper sweep ofclaim 1 wherein the frame cross section can be a shape from a set ofshapes consisting of L, inverted U, T and combinations.
 8. A squeegeemop or wiper sweep with reversible wiper blade comprising: a frame frommore or less an extruded shaped cross section; a flexible attachmentcoupling the frame to a sweep handle; at least one squeegee blade withtwo sides firmly held in parallel to the frame extruded dimension withat least two fastener connectors; a first blade side snuggly adjacent tothe frame and a second blade side snuggly adjacent to a flat plate orstrip along the frame cross section extruded dimension; the at least twofastener connectors perpendicular to and sandwiching the blade betweenthe frame back and plate or strip more or less mid-way on the bladeheight dimension, and winglets affixed to the frame ends whereby a sweepblade can collect the excess fluid and debris without sweep sidespillage.